


Trainrides and Letters

by octopus_fool



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Femslash Big Bang Monthly Challenge, Introspection, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-11 21:44:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7908685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octopus_fool/pseuds/octopus_fool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pansy gets a letter she was not expecting and definitely didn't want to get.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trainrides and Letters

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the monthly challenge of Femslash Big Bang, "seventeen days later".

Pansy cursed and stuffed the piece of parchment into the bottom of the drawer of her desk again. She hated the handwriting, the small efficient letters with the “i”s dotted neatly but with little fuss. She hated it, down to the little loop on the “g”s.

She even hated the neatness of the parchment. She had thought about scrunching it up and throwing it away when she first got it, had considered burning it or blasting it to pieces. The words had itched on her tongue as she turned her wand between her fingers. 

She had decided against it. She had always been embarrassingly bad at “reparo” and you never knew if you might need something like this letter for a lawsuit. In the end, Pansy had put it into the bottom of the drawer to forget about it.

 

She forgot about it as she sat in front of her accounts, didn’t let the thought of it enter her mind as she talked with her colleagues and avoided recalling the words as she went to social functions.  
In fact, she concentrated so hard on not thinking about it that it was constantly on her mind. There was nothing else to do, Pansy told herself as she took it out after nearly a week. If she looked at the letter again, she would be able to concentrate on other things again.

 

_Just a simple lunch._

Pansy laughed. As if _anything_ about this was simple. Just the fact that there was apparently the need to point out that it would be simple made it complicated. And that was without factoring in their history, society and common sense. It was such a _Gryffindor_ thing to say, stupid and insulting.

And yet… something about it resonated in Pansy. She was used to complicated. It had been far from easy to get a job at Gringott’s so soon after the war, not with her family and her old affiliations. It hadn’t been easy to build a life for herself and leave the past and her old grudges and prejudices behind. Whatever this was - whatever it had the potential to become - was so complicated that Pansy could feel a headache coming on just thinking about it. And she _wanted_ simple. Simple sounded promising. Making this simple was so very tempting. 

 

She has seen two muggle girls a few months back, might even have followed them. They were holding hands and sharing an ice-cream cone. She had watched as they casually bumped shoulders as their laughs cocooned them in their own little world. It had looked so simple. Pansy had blushed to the tips of her toes when they kissed, but even that hadn’t seemed as complicated as it was.

 

_“May I sit down?”_

_The question was simple, perhaps the most simple thing so far on this day, with the floo network on strike and trying to figure out muggle transportation._

_“I really don’t want to bother you, but this it the last seat that is still free.”  
These words were rather less simple, but at least Granger kept her mouth shut and worked on some report after sitting down._

_Except that things went downhill quickly when the train stopped in the open countryside, somewhere between Leicester and Kettering. Pansy saw her growing impatience mirrored in Granger’s face when the train remained stationary as the minutes ticked by._

_“Are you also going to be late for something?” Pansy asked._

_Granger looked up from her parchment in surprise. “I still have a little time but I do need to be at a meeting at eleven. What about you?”_

_“I have to be at Gringott’s at half past ten at the latest, yearly inspection with an important client. Does this kind of delay often happen on muggle trains?”_

_Granger laughed. “Quite often, yes. It figures that it had to happen when the floo network is down. I would have apparated, but I do like taking muggle transport occasionally and I’ve never been too fond of the sensation of apparition.”_

_Pansy nodded. “I’ve personally never really seen the need to get the licence when there’s the floo.” She didn’t need to tell Granger that she got so dizzy during her apparition test that she had ended up splinching herself and hadn’t bothered to try a second time. “I certainly regretted it this morning when I realised I had to take the train back from my conference. And now this.”_

_“Yes, it really is a pain. So you work at Gringott’s now? Do you enjoy it?”_

 

The conversation that had followed had been surprisingly pleasant. They had talked about their jobs, how their lives had developed after the war and even a bit about politics. Smalltalk between two people who had gone to school together and hadn’t seen each other since. There had been little mention of the war and the fact that their loyalties had been somewhat different. It had been a pleasant way to pass the wait.

She definitely hadn’t been expecting the letter she got the following morning. 

_Dear Pansy,_  
_I hope you made it to your meeting on time. I really enjoyed talking to you yesterday and would enjoy continuing our conversation in a more pleasant setting. I have time on Monday around noon, so if you agree, we could meet then, just for a simple lunch, perhaps at the Golden Manticore. I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon._  
_Hermione_

 

Pansy wasn’t one for romance. Her face didn’t suit it, she had found, and neither did her temperament. 

She had had a crush once, during her time at Hogwarts. Since Pansy had few illusions about her attractiveness, she tried impressing her with knowledge. Except that she had proved rather hard to impress. Eventually, Pansy had tried to get some attention through crass remarks, but that had only cemented the house rivalry and eventually, Pansy had turned to more useful things and the relationships that were expected of her. She stopped caring.

She had stopped doing what was expected of her after the war. Starting to care was another thing entirely. Going to the witches-only clubs had still been out of question and her brief forays into the muggle world had turned out disappointing and complicated. Pansy had concentrated on her career and decided that romance was not for her. 

And now she had this bloody letter sitting at the bottom of her desk drawer, burning its way into her consciousness constantly. 

 

Most of Sunday night was spent staring at the shadows on the ceiling, what was left of it was used to pace the room glaring at the letter. Time was running out for her to make a decision. What decision, really, she asked herself. Of course she wasn’t going out to lunch with Granger. It was out of question. Most of what they could talk about had already been said and passing an annoying wait on a train talking was something entirely different than meeting for lunch, however “simple” that lunch may be. And why would Pansy want to spend lunch with Granger anyway? She liked lunch breaks the way they were: lots of talk about business with a nice sprinkling of goblin humour, which, despite the reputation it had, was right up Pansy’s alley.

Still, Pansy found herself wondering what it would be like. Perhaps it would just be one awkward meal and that was it, all doubts removed. But perhaps they would find topics to talk about again. 

Unbidden, the memory of what Granger’s hand had felt like on Pansy’s arm came to her mind. She flung the latest copy of the Daily Prophet across the room. She didn’t want to go, so why was she wasting her time thinking about this?

Would Granger wait for her in the Golden Manticore even if she didn’t reply? Probably not, and Pansy was most likely reading too much into this anyway. Why was she even assuming that this lunch was supposed to lead to more? Almost certainly, Granger had completely different motives.

That thought, and definitely not any guilty feelings about the mental image of Granger sitting alone at a table, made Pansy sit down at her desk. 

_Dear Ms. Granger,_  
_Thank you for your offer, but I am currently rather busy and won’t have time for lunch._  
_Regards,_  
_P. Parkinson_

That should do. Pansy set it on her desk and looked at it for a moment. It would probably be best to send it with her owl as soon as possible. She hesitated and then decided to send it off first thing in the morning. There was no need to call Topheles back from hunting mice quite yet. Pansy went back to bed and continued to stare at the ceiling. 

She did not send the letter the next morning. Instead, she grabbed an extra thick stack of files at work and worked through lunchtime. She just had to keep working and when lunchtime was over, the topic would be done with and she could finally forget about the letter and Granger.

 

Except that the piece of parchment with the tidy handwriting and the looped “g”s continued to burn in Pansy’s mind and haunt the bottom of her drawer. 

By now, Pansy had the handful of sentences memorised and had analysed each one a thousand times for any possible hidden meanings. It was pathetic, she told herself. Even her teenage self had never been this obsessed about Hermione, and she had spent hours each day studying to impress her. 

 

_“So how did your little club to help house-elves turn out?” Pansy asked._

_“Oh, you remember that?” Hermione asked, surprise written in her face._

_“You were quite enthusiastic about it,” Pansy replied with a grin._

_Hermione laughed. “All enthusiasm and all the wrong methods. I’m guessing some of your housemates had a ball with the name alone.”_

_“Well, there were worse things to be enthusiastic about,” Pansy said. “And worse things to be remembered for.”_

_“To be honest, it’s still something I’d like to be remembered for,” Hermione admitted. “I recently started working on a piece of legislation to give house-elves more rights.”_

_Pansy laughed. “See, that’s what I mean: you can do what you were enthusiastic about back then, while I and quite a few others had to relearn most of our values.”_

 

She hadn’t asked Hermione what rights she wanted house-elves to get and how those plans were coming along, Pansy realised. She hadn’t told her the hilarious joke Grimgarb had told the other day, about the house-elf and the goblin doing a deal or asked her if she had read the book about the vampire that had tried to go vegetarian. And they hadn’t even discussed what their old classmates were doing. Not that Pansy needed an update on Potter, the Daily Prophet kept her well-informed on that. It just would have been interesting to know what Hermione thought about some of the more interesting career choices. 

It was not that Pansy was lonely, but it had been nice to talk about something different than Galleons, Sickles, Knuts and the economy for once. Her work was fulfilling and she didn’t mind the social functions her parents liked her to attend. It was just nice to talk to someone with a wider range of topics and Hermione and her had switched from topic to topic easily, without either of them becoming bored, even with the clock reminding them that they should have been elsewhere.

 

_“I am sorry to announce that this train will be delayed for another one or two hours, due to an accident on the tracks ahead. The National Rail apologises for any inconvenience.”_

_Pansy groaned and let herself fall into back into the seat. “That’s it. I’m not going to make it to my appointment.”_

_Hermione looked around and when she saw no one was paying any attention to them, she turned to Pansy and lowered her voice. “I could take you to London by side-along apparition. Not from right here, obviously, but I think this calls for desperate measures.”_

_“Would you do that?” Pansy asked. “From where could we…?”_

_Hermione grabbed her things. “Come on, let’s get a coffee if this is going to take that long,” she announced loudly._

_Pansy hurried behind her._

_“In here,” Hermione said once they had left the compartment, opening the door to what Pansy realized was the bathroom. “Don’t lock it though, we just want to be out of sight and not block it for everyone.”_

_“How very chivalrous of you,” Pansy grinned as she squeezed in with Hermione._

_Hermione grinned back and Pansy thought she could see the beginning of a blush on Hermione’s face._

_“Is it alright if I take you to the Leaky Cauldron?”_

_“Yes, that would be great.”_

_Hermione clasped Pansy’s lower arm and Pansy held onto Hermione’s in turn._

_“Hold tight. On three. One… two… three…”_

_Apparating hadn’t become any more pleasant, but half a moment later, they were standing in a corner of the Leaky Cauldron. Pansy stumbled slightly and Hermione increased the pressure of her grip to steady her._

_“Everything alright?”_

_“Yes, apparating just always makes me a bit dizzy. Thank you.”_

_They looked at each other for a moment longer. A wisp of Hermione’s hair had pulled loose from its bun, Pansy realized. There was definitely a bit of a blush on her face now._

_She suddenly realized that they hadn’t let go of each other’s arms yet. Hermione’s hand was warm and gentle on her arm. The skin under Pansy’s fingers felt soft. She wondered if Hermione could feel Pansy’s skin grow hot._

_Pansy felt oddly reluctant to just say goodbye, but at the same time, she wanted the moment to be over._

_Hermione smiled and let go of Pansy’s arm, brushing back the strand of hair._

_“Well, you should be on time now.”_

_Pansy nodded. “I should. I should probably get going. Thank you so much.”_

_“You’re welcome,” Hermione replied._

_Pansy hurried out the back, tapped the brick and let out a deep breath as she stepped into Diagon Alley. She could still feel the ghost of Hermione’s hand on her arm. She shook her head. It was a good thing she could leave the awkward situation behind her. It was not like she was likely to see Granger again anytime soon. Best she forget about it._

 

The memory of Hermione’s hand on her arm felt warm again. With a jolt, Pansy realised what she had known deep down for a long time. At the very least, she had questions to ask Hermione and topics to discuss. And if she was lucky, she just might get to feel the touch of that warm hand again. 

Pansy sat down and took out a piece of parchment. She smoothed it out, took out her best quill and took a deep breath. Better seventeen days late than never and if the worst came to pass, well, she knew how to deal with rejection.

_Lunch on Monday at twelve at the Golden Manticore sounds good.  
P. Parkinson_

Her handwriting was nowhere near as neat as Hermione’s but somehow, Hermione did not seem like the type to mind.

Pansy tied the letter to Topheles’ leg.

 

Hermione’s reply took decidedly less than seventeen days.

_Dear Pansy,_  
_I’m looking forward to it!_  
_Hermione_

Pansy smiled as she looked down at the letter. Whatever would become of this “simple lunch”, she was looking forward to it.


End file.
